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High Range Anxiety: Chevrolet Volt vs. Mini E

Anecdotes of the new Chevy Volt’s fuel sipping acumen keep coming, as General Motors winds down its two-week intro drive for auto journalists. The European press are in now, just following my drive. MT Tech Guru Frank Markus was assigned the deep dive into the car, and several of our other editors have had a go at the Volt, mostly in California.So I caught the long-lead introduction near its tail end, just before the Europeans and just after half a day driving the Mini E electric.Frank and I had the Mini E for a day. He had driven one before, so I got more time in it, driving to the Romeo Proving Grounds, about 23 miles from our Detroit Bureau. The E’s steering column-mounted charge gauge showed the little electric was 90-percent charged, 0.4 miles into a full recharge from BMW. Temp gauge read 50-degrees Fahrenheit, and the gauge told me I had about 78 miles range.

I called Ford PR and asked before setting out if I could have the Mini charged during the half-day event. RPG is one of those places Detroit-based journalists visit once every couple of years, so I printed out Mapquest directions showing the best route. I promptly ignored them, choosing instead a familiar, if over-long route, and avoiding construction-ravaged freeways.The Mini’s meter uses algorithms to help determine remaining range, based on driving style. Since I put my first mile on Mini E number 68 after other drivers had logged 2,904 miles, the range number was all over the place, dropping to about 68 miles after just five miles of driving. By the time I had put 10 miles on the Mini, the range was down to 53 miles.High range anxiety? You bet.I should have followed Mapquest. Forty-two point-four trip miles later, I reached Ford’s RPG. I had 30 percent juice left, and an estimated 27-mile range, barely enough to get home after the event.Ford’s charge boosted the car to about a 55-percent charge, and a 47-mile estimated range. After 8.7 trip miles, I was down to a 28 mile range, but that bounced up and down, settling in the low- to mid-30s long enough to make a side trip by the time I reached Woodward Avenue.By now, I had figured out that the Mini’s aggressive motor braking to recoup braking energy make the E automobiledom’s answer to the fixie bike. The craze among young bike enthusiasts is to ride adult-style versions of the coaster-brake bike from which I moved up by the time I was six. Once you learn the level of regen braking, you can stop the Mini simply by lifting off the throttle the right distance from the stoplight, and feather it a bit to get there. Brakes? They’re for triggering the brake lights so you can warn tailgaters.The Mini E is a two-seater, with the battery pack taking up space where the rear seat and the cargo area would be. There’s not much cargo space – maybe enough for your briefcase and for the charging plug.I got it home showing 17 miles left, a 40-mile trip and 15-percent charge. Then I drove it to Frank’s house, maybe 1.5 miles away. It showed a 4- to 5-mile range when I wheeled it into his driveway, from where he charged it overnight. Frank gave it a 110-volt overnight charge, resulting in 50-percent charge, and drove it about 15 miles to the office the next morning. When it was loaded onto a flatbed later that morning, it indicated a 37.5-percent charge and a 36-mile range.No need to load the Volt onto any flatbeds.At her presentation between Volt drives the next day, Pamela Fletcher, chief engineer for powertrain systems, described how the internal combustion engine connects directly to the car’s traction motor, and helps power the car when the battery range is depleted (and the engine already is charging the generator motor) and the driver reaches certain high speeds, about 70 mph. Fletcher told journalists she’s essentially moved beyond what to call the car, and would let us define the powertrain’s place among plug-in electrics and hybrids.Meanwhile, GM is quickly playing catch-up with public perception. While many of you say I’ve overstated the so-called Voltgate problem, the fact is GM has faced a negative public image since it was caught gathering intelligence on Ralph Nader. On a call-in radio show last February, I tried to counter a couple of calls from listeners who said they wanted to buy the Nissan Leaf, but had no interest in the Chevy Volt. To the green crowd, “zero emissions, no tailpipe” has a lot of appeal.I predict thousands of first-time electric car drivers will quickly discover that a 100-mile range estimate is no absolute.

By not being forthright about the Volt’s technology, GM has come under criticism by such groups as the Toyota Prius-centric Hybrid Owners of America. Even now that Nader is going after recall-battered Toyota, it will take some time before GM’s image rises to that of its Japanese rival. At least Chevrolet has developed a tagline for the Volt that’s not far off the suggestion in my previous post – “more car than electric.”The lesson from my drive around Metro Detroit the other day is that it shines most for the 25 to 50 miles it can run on a single charge, before the gas engine kicks in.Co-driver Jim Hall and I drove from the northern suburb of Rochester Hills, to GM’s Warren Tech Center, to the Volt’s Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant (where it’s being built alongside the last of the Buick Lucernes and Cadillac DTSes!).As Jim parked the car at Detroit-Hamtramck, the gauge showed 52.9 miles total, 7.2 miles on gas and electric, and 45.6 miles on pure electric. We had used 0.2 gallons of gas, and had a remaining range of 267 miles.After the plant tour, with a GM engineer in a back seat, we drove north back into the suburbs and then into Ford territory, stopping at a Romeo apple orchard for autumn season cider and cinnamon doughnuts. We drove on the freeway and on winding, hilly two-lanes, and finally back to Rochester Hills. Tally for the day was 54.8 miles on electric, 93.0 miles on gasoline, and a total of 147.8 miles for the day. We consumed 2.31 gallons of gasoline, averaging 64.2 mpg.

In the last leg of suburban stop-and-go, we drove 50 miles, using 1.1 gallons at just 42.1 mpg. Not a bad number, really. It’s the kind of mileage you get with a Toyota Prius after mostly freeway driving. At the end of the day, our Volt’s multi-configurable dash showed a lifetime fuel mileage of 117 mpg.Techie early adapters will be as interested in this car as the Green crowd. If you were one of the hundreds of thousands of Chevy buyers who have paid $35,000 to $45,000 (sticker) for a Tahoe in the past decade, why wouldn’t you pay $41,000 to $44,000 (the approximate sticker of the well-equipped Volt Jim and I drove), less tax credits?Sure, you still can have a non-plug in Prius for less than $30,000, and expect 51-mpg city, 48-mpg highway, according to the EPA. When the second-generation, 2004 Prius launched, many dealers were getting $30,000 to $35,000, and more, for the much in-demand car.The 36-month lease is the way to go, costing just $1 more per month than a Leaf and $501 more due at signing (with the tax credit going to Chevy, just as the Leaf tax credit goes to Nissan if you lease). Buying the car after 36 months will cost you a big residual, but by then the 2014 Volt’s lithium-ion battery pack may take you even further on a full charge.

This is the first modern non-manual I’d consider owning, or leasing. (The flip-down rear seat of the fairly commodious hatchback makes it a decent car for my wife and I, and our two collies.)I did hope for a bit better fuel mileage after the engine starts recharging the electric generator, to make the car something you could take on a long trip. Well, you can take it on a long trip, but you have to plan for it to get the best out of the car, planning ahead for plug-ins overnight at hotels and motels. Consider vacationing in Minnesota or Northern Wisconsin, where engine block heater plug-ins are common.The Chevy Volt is a car that will involve owners in the way manual gearboxes and shadetree maintenance once did (remember when you could just lift the hood and immediately find the spark plugs?).Even though the way GM has tried to market its techno-wonder these past four years still has me scratching my head, I have no doubts about the significance of the Chevy Volt.

1) The VOLT won't save any money over a Prius. Not in California, not anywhere. The car is too expensive, it takes too much electricity to charge the battery, its electric range is too short, it gets much worse mileage on gas, and its battery is MUCH too expensive to replace.
2) The VOLT will cut down on pollution in California, but that's only because California's electricity comes mostly from Natural Gas (except Los Angeles which gets most of its power from coal burning power plants). The VOLT will net INCREASE pollution anywhere electricity comes from coal burning power plants. The US now gets over 50% of its electricity from coal, and most Americans live where coal burning power plants will make the electricity needed to recharge the VOLT. Not that burning oil is good, it's just that burning coal is much worse. Electric cars make no sense at all until the US can replace coal burning power plants with other clean sources of electricity.
3) Most of California is not smog-filled. Not at all. LA is, but unlike the rest of California, LA gets 52% of its power from coal burning power plants. VOLTs in LA might be good for LA's air, but only because LA's coal burning power plants are in Arizona and New Mexico. Good for LA, but bad for the planet.
4) US supplies of natural gas are nearly tapped out. Any large increase in electricity demand caused by electric cars will have to be supplied by either importing natural gas or by coal. In most areas of the country, coal is the only real option.
5) What in the world makes you think that the VOLT will be more reliable than a Prius? Seriously, does that make any sense to you at all?
6) Pointing out facts and supplying information is NOT bashing America. On the other hand, withholding information IS bashing America, in every real way.

Not really certain on the critics of the volt and how the Prius is a much better offer. When you're arguing the minute amounts that the Prius will save you in milli pennies over the volt than you've lost the entire idea behind the vehicle. Consider this, especially those residing in California. If you're daily commute is only 5 miles each way to and from work, and you have to stop and pick up the kids at school and take them to football practice and dancing lessons with a quick stop at the store all of which totals an additional 20 miles on top of your work commute, how much fuel did you use? The answer to that question is (00000000000). Yes, you plugged in your vehicle and charged it and spent a little on your electric bill to do so, and yes, maybe it is slightly more expensive than the Prius, but the point you’re missing is this, (what was the environmental impact on your Prius as compared to the Volt)? You living in California should understand this better than anyone considering your polluted, smog filled environment where you reside. Not too mention the fact of the time spent in the dealership fixing all those annoying recalls that the Toyota product needs (confusing considering that they’re suppose to be such dependable cars). If you want to continue bashing America and the companies providing alternative solutions to present status quo and protecting your Japanese, Korean and Chinese manufacturers, then I believe it's time you left this country and begin your cynical existence elsewhere.

Seriously I just dont understand why the car is "So Freaking Controversial!" It's purpose is less reliance on Foriegn Oil ,and to be Environmentally Friendly. It does those things very well(by todays standards). I applaud GM for thinking Outside The Box in a worthwhile way for a change!

Nope. Not 3 cents. No way. Total nonsense. A full charge on the Volt is 13.4 Kw-hrs using 110V. The cheapest electricity in the nation is 8 cents per Kw - hour in places like West Virginia where they have cheap coal power. At 8 cents per Kw-hour - that's $1.07 per full charge . The most expensive electric rate is 28 cents per Kw-hr (Hawaii). That's $3.75. New York is 19.58 cents or about $2.62. California is 15.5 cents or about $2.08. Since the Volt can go about 33 miles on a charge (on a brand new battery -less in winter), in California a VOLT can go about 16 miles on one dollar's worth of electricity. A Prius can go about 50 miles on $3.00 worth of regular unleaded = 16.6 miles on a dollars worth of gas. So in California, a Prius is slightly cheaper to operate on gas than a VOLT is on electricity. But when the Volt has to run on gas, it's substantially worse than a Prius. So a VOLT only saves on the cost of fuel in just those few places in the country where electricity is super cheap, and then only if you almost never drive it in gasoline-powered mode. What's that saying again, a fool is born every minute?

So when you parked at the assembly plant, you traveled 53 miles on 0.2 gallons of gas. If that's your commute to and from work, and you charge it every night, you're getting 265 miles per gallon.
265MPG for a commuter who lives just outside the electric range.

I think you framed the realities of range in an electric vehicle very well, Todd. And I was looking forward to reading your impressions of the Volt in real driving situations. To me, that is where the meat of the story is with the Volt. This is a car that dosen't require sacrifices from its owner. It just does what is asked of it, and does it using very, very little gasoline. Sometimes no gasoline at all. And no worries about the range of the car. There's the take home.

I don't get it. From the onset, the Volt has been referred to in the press as an "extended range electric" whose 100% electric powertrain was supplemented by a small gas powered generator. The gas engine was supposed to provide peace of mind to those who feared being stranded when the battery power was depleted. It was also revealed early in the Volt's development that the gas engine would supplement the electric motor's power when needed, somewhat similar to the way a traditional hybrid's gas engine is supplemented by its electric motor.
It seems to me the only people who are confused about what the Volt is are the ones who've never researched it at all, but have relied on advertising. That consumers have been "misled" by GM's advertising should not be surprising in the least. Consider that this is the company who thought they made Pontiac minivans with "excitement", had Leonard Nimoy hocking something that was no longer "your father's Oldsmobile", and sold "a different kind of [plastic] car" from "a different kind of company". It's no secret to anyone what those campaigns did for Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Saturn.
I think the biggest mistake GM has made about the Volt is using it to lure customers during its four-year-plus gestation period. In our instant gratification society, it seems the Volts allure has dwindled to a point where no one really cares if they even build it at all. I hope for GM's sake it can sell the Volt to a celebrity market like Toyota did with the Prius, and then it can draw in a broader range of customers from those who find it important to emulate the rich and famous. Mr. Begley, your Chevy is ready; almost.

Todd, a great review as always. Those Volt numbers are hard to beat. And having suffered range anxiety myself with EVs, yeah, greenies are not going to like the experience the first time they're out of charge.